


Epiphany At The Parking Lot

by illusion_flight



Category: the GazettE
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-04
Updated: 2012-01-04
Packaged: 2017-10-28 22:01:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/312626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/illusion_flight/pseuds/illusion_flight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>From the the proverb “Under the light the darkness is the biggest”, Uruha is the one exception that proves the rule. Good for him, someone might say, and he would be probably right.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Epiphany At The Parking Lot

**Author's Note:**

> Rating: PG- 13
> 
> Originally written on December 5th, 2011.

“I am so glad they finished this before Christmas.” Kai sighs, opening the door to the roof of his apartment building.

“This is so awesome, dude, seriously.”

Reita, Uruha and Aoi follow Kai´s steps closely as he leads them to yet another door that is made out of wire. A key clicks in the padlock hanging on it, and they are all free to walk inside a huge cage made of the same wire. Its walls run high and when Uruha looks up to the sky, he feels nauseated. It´s almost dark outside, but four huge spotlights on the high poles in the every corner of the cage emit light so strong he is blinded for a second or two. In the centre right above him, the darkness is total however; it spreads in a violent whirlpool, flowing into the heights, sucking him in. A strong pat on his back from Aoi draws Uruha back to the ground quickly, and the lights lick his world again. Uruha´s head spins, so he tries to concentrate on Reita kneeling on the ground, tying up the laces on his sneakers. Aoi leaves his side and starts walking to the other side of the fenced space.

“So theoretically speaking, if you live in that building opposite, and you are on the 16th floor and higher, you can watch a soccer match for free, right?”

Uruha hears Aoi musing aloud as he reaches a goal in the far corner of the rooftop. Aoi then jumps high in order to tap the upper goalpost. Somehow he manages to miss; he laughs. Finally, Uruha gains back his focus.

“Well, yes, but there is no guaranty that the game won´t suck.”

Kai grins and Aoi inquires.

“When did Ruki say he’d be coming?”

Reita stands up, ready to win, God knows what.  
…

The Gazette sit in a booth of the café right opposite the PSC recording studios. Reita stirs his coffee (two teaspoons of sugar, no milk), and Aoi says something about scores to their new song to Uruha, who sips his coffee slowly (but still burns his tongue). Ruki in between them places his hand under the table on Aoi´s hand that is running up and down Ruki´s tight (squeezing it now and then). Kai glances to the nearest table where a group of women sits (one of them is just his type; who cares she might be around 40, married and with kids). He taps nervously against the ground with his foot once and continues the speech he never managed to start properly.

“So they are planning on a soccer pitch construction. Our district council has to fulfil some plans of providing enough space for leisure activities and decided for my apartment building. I don´t quite understand that because it´s not really central positioned, but who cares, right?”

“That is kind of great. I don´t really remember when was the last time I played soccer. Maybe some time before we got to Tokyo.”

Reita looks at Uruha and waits for the affirmation of his 10 year-old memory, but all he gets is Uruha´s scowl that is actually meant for something (or someone) else.

“In any case, we must try it when it´s done,” Reita finishes his thought as well as his coffee.

“Sure thing.”

Kai seems enthusiastic. Aoi nods, draws back his hand from under the table and taps the pocket of his trousers.

“I am going for a smoke. I will meet you in the studio.”

“Wait! I am going with you.”

Ruki looks at Uruha shortly then, with his head bowed, follows Aoi. Uruha´s eyes never leave his coffee cup; they all have their addictions after all.  
\---

“Next time we have to call Ryou-chin and maybe some other staff members. This is no way to play soccer.”

But this one time it is not a problem that they are only four for the whole pitch. It´s smaller than the standard ones, and Ruki shall come soon too.

This is just a first game, a kick-off, a try-out. Uruha replaces Aoi in the goal and thinks that it´s always worth trying (if it makes the others happy). They will run here and there and kick a ball around. One of them might score. But if a goalie is watchful enough, nothing like that will happen. For now they are all playing for the same team. And Uruha doesn´t really want (like) any changes in the line up.

They all take turns in aiming on the goal. No one can make the ball pass Uruha, and blood in his veins gets more and more powerful with every successful catch. It rushes through his body; his breath is quick.

Then the gate to the pitch opens, and Ruki walks in. Hair tousled because up there it´s a bit more windy; he wears his favourite pair of Prada shoes and big black sunglasses (in Tokyo no one cares if you wear sunglasses during winter). There is a backpack on his shoulder (no, Prada is not a winning brand either).

“Sorry, guys, there was a suicide on Yamanote again. This is the second time this week I got stuck in a train because of someone jumping in front of it. Yes, at this time. One would think I´ve already gotten used to it.”

Uruha looks at Ruki as he takes the glasses off his face, looking around in amazement. He stands right under one of the spotlights, engulfed in the glow. Ruki, _a mirage_ , he is ridiculously surreal.

In the same moment Aoi darts towards the ball, laying some hundred meters away from the goal, and finally scores. The blood gushes rapidly into Uruha´s head and then explodes.

“Now, this is something else,” Ruki comments and whistles afterwards.

Uruha can see stars in front of his eyes now. They are red. Probably only he knows what Ruki means when he returns the glance from before.  
\---

They leave the café and enter a small area in front of it, enclosed with glass walls. There is no one except them. Aoi opens his packet of menthol cigarettes, pulls one out, sticks it between his lips, lights it.

“Mind to share?”

Ruki realizes he left his own pack in the studio. Aoi stretches his hand, but sooner than Ruki manages to extract one white stick from the small box, he draws it back quickly.

“What about you?” Aoi asks, and Ruki is not particularly annoyed. Maybe because he´s expected something like this to come, sooner or later.

“It was my idea. And we are not exclusive, you know that.”

Aoi takes his own cigarette out of his mouth and hands it over to Ruki. He pushes it right into his mouth, his fingers touch Ruki´s lips. They are cold.

“Yes, I know that.”

Aoi then lights another cigarette up and inhales. He can see his bandmates crossing the street and entering the building on the other side.  
\---

“Wow, finally someone made it!” Reita shouts breathlessly, runs to Aoi and high-fives him.

“Well, Uruha is not _that_ great,” Aoi retorts and laughs. Ruki watches the scene in front of him, seemingly reluctant to change and join the game.

“You two should switch in the goal.” Reita adds, and something in Uruha freezes.

The sky is white with clouds now, even though the darkness is still there, behind them. It starts snowing.

Uruha can hear that something shattering into million shiny pieces.  
\---

None of them leaves the studio sooner than after the night falls hard.

In Ruki´s apartment the lights are off. But Uruha thinks that because of the white walls, it is never dark completely there anyway, so he watches carefully as Ruki takes off his jacket, his socks, his trousers. He smiles inwardly at this order that is kept at any circumstances, whether they have sex or not.

They do have sex tonight; after Uruha smells menthol in Ruki´s hair when he sinks his face into it, pushing the other´s back against the wall, after Uruha smells it in Ruki´s dishevelled shirt, kissing his chest between unbuttoned pieces of fabric, after Uruha smells it on Ruki´s fingers, licking them slowly. Ruki doesn´t smoke only one brand of cigarettes. Uruha knows, and he doesn´t really think about it more. He doesn´t ask either (or he doesn´t get any answer), and that seems to be the essential of their relationship. So far.

Then Uruha clutches Ruki´s hand firmly and leads it to his own crotch. He presses himself into that hand; he rests his forearms against the wall; he stares into Ruki´s eyes and kisses him hungrily.

 

“So have you already done it?” Eventually, Uruha breathes out, lying naked on his back on the floor next to Ruki. He watches the changing lights coming from outside on the ceiling of Ruki´s living room.

“I need a cigarette. Are you going home as always?” Ruki says impassively as he grabs his shirt that he took off at one point too and throws it over his cold feet sloppily. Uruha stands up, walks to the couch nearby where a blanket lies, then goes back and covers Ruki.

“Yes. I will see you tomorrow at the rehearsal, right? Wanna go and grab something to eat afterwards?”

“Aoi´s coming over.”

“Okay, you guys have fun.”

Uruha laughs, and there is no irony in his voice. All of a sudden, the whole room is lit by headlights of a truck, passing by on the street. Uruha can see that Ruki´s eyes are closed and he decides to add.

“Sorry that I don´t smoke anymore.”  
\---

If they ever talk about a snow blizzard in Tokyo (since the expression is such an oxymoron), it is the one that happened that day when they went to the rooftop pitch for the first time. That day only Aoi scored a goal, and Ruki just managed to change into his tracksuit. The blizzard wasn´t really a blizzard, but on fifteenth floor it surely felt that way, so after it had broken out, it took Kai ten minutes to lock the doors of the fence behind them.

That night Reita and Aoi stayed at Kai´s place, and Ruki and Uruha went home together (to the apartment where it is never dark). Uruha´s car was parked safely in the underground parking lot of Kai´s apartment building. There were two versions of what happened down there, during one talk over the bonnet of Uruha´s car, in the gloomy lights of the carpark, and how it came to Uruha claiming “his rights.”

In the version according to Uruha, everything finally clicked into the right place in his head (everyone knows it might take some time for Uruha to notice things and for that reason this part is also the funniest), and he realized that it is not true that under the light it is always the darkest place. He asked Ruki to break it off with Aoi for _his_ sake, not for the band´s (Uruha always leaves this part out for the general peace), reasoning that it was bullshit not to be exclusive (not the best argument, but it apparently worked). Uruha also firmly proclaimed he was staying the night that time. Ruki didn´t keep his undressing code for the first time.

In Ruki´s edition, it happened the same way with one exception. Uruha never sounded as resolute as in his version and never said he would stay over. That night he just forgot himself, lost in the passionate argument with Ruki about why the heck Kai had never told them he lived in the same building as Kimura Takuya (they happened to see him passing by their car during that Uruha´s moment of enlightenment that could otherwise sound really serious). It didn´t help that “Song of X´Smap” was playing on the radio on their way back to Ruki´s apartment either. And when it was dawning and it was clear that Uruha finally stayed the night, Ruki still kept his undressing code.


End file.
